SRINAGAR: NC Vice President Omar Abdullah said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi told them that the Government of India was making preparations for the state assembly elections. He said he dropped no hint that something is happening in the state that would trigger the unprecedented panic.
“We returned satisfied after the meeting,” Omar said. “But I never expected that within 24 hours of the meeting, an order will be issued to evacuate tourists and the Yatra will be halted.” Omar was speaking to the media at his residence.
Omar accompanied the party president, Dr Farooq Abdullah, his father to meet Prime Minister in Delhi, early this week. He said the Prime Minister dropped no hint in the meeting that there is some impending threat that will even lead to the halt in yatra.
Omar led some of his colleagues and met the governor to discuss the situation of scare and panic. Governor Satya Pal Malik assured them that there is nothing being done on anything that is making the rumours. He assured them that there is nothing to be worried about. “The governor has talked to the people in Delhi and they have told him the same thing,” Omar said. “But on Jammu and Kashmir, the final word is the Government of India and not the governor so we seek a statement from the Parliament on this.”
Omar said the situation is unprecedented and scary. The yatra was halted and the tourists from Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamrag were evacuated. “We told the Governor that nobody in the state is offering any idea about what is happening,” Omar said. “We are talking to officers and they say they know nothing but insist something is happening.”
Insisting that though all the orders issued in last many days make sense if taken in isolation but it shows something disturbing when they are put together – an order by Home Secretary, by police about law and order, by Railway Police about stocking materials. He also said the content of the rumours, even if true, are in no way serving the interest of the country.
The governor, Omar said, repeated the yesterday stated that the people need not worry about and stop believing in rumours.
Since Dr Farooq is unwell and will not be attending the Lok Saba on Monday, Omar said his party’s two MPs Justice Husnain Masoodi and Mohammad Akbar Lone will be in the Parliament on Monday. They will move notice to the Parliament to discuss the order of the Home Secretary Jammu and Kashmir that halted the yatra and triggered the crisis.
Omar said some people would like to encourage people to take law into their own hands but people must control their emotions. “We will fight whatever happens legally and politically,” Omar said. “NC is committed to the protection of the special status of the state and it is already a party to the case of Article 35A in the Supreme Court.”
The former Chief Minister said that there are promises that were made to the people of the state at the time of accession. These promises, he insisted, lacked an expiry date.
